Free vs. Paid Apps on iPad

macrumors member

Does anyone have a sense of if there are as many free apps available for iPad as there are for iPhone/Touch? I'm wondering if I'd be able to find many useful free iPad-specific apps if I were to purchase a pad. In other words, do you think many of the free iPhone apps will eventually have iPad version? From what I've read, running iPhone apps on the "pad" is not as impressive as running an app made specifically for the iPad.

macrumors 65816

Does anyone have a sense of if there are as many free apps available for iPad as there are for iPhone/Touch? I'm wondering if I'd be able to find many useful free iPad-specific apps if I were to purchase a pad. In other words, do you think many of the free iPhone apps will eventually have iPad version? From what I've read, running iPhone apps on the "pad" is not as impressive as running an app made specifically for the iPad.

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Just as a generalisation, I would think that a lot of the free apps are ones made by single devs or small groups, with not a lot of resources put into them and not as much focus. Therefore they are less likely to put in the time to produce an iPad version.

macrumors G4

90% of what I've d/led has been free apps. There is some good stuff there. Most of the paid apps I've seen seem overpriced and looks like prices are already starting to fall to earth. .99 is ridiculously cheap, but $9.99 for most of the apps is stupidly expensive too.

For example, I wanted Scrabble, but $9.99 is just a turn off. The actual board game can be had for less, and more to the point the iPhone version is like $3. I'd pay $5, but $10 for a few more pixels, c'mon. It's not like EA had to pay for those pixels -- the iPad owners did. It seems developers are letting the "HD" moniker go to their head. There is a difference b/t HD media and HD games -- HD media actually costs more to produce.

macrumors 68040

I had about 250 apps on my iPod touch when it crashed. I decided to weed out the junk and only put back the apps I really use. I hated sitting through daily updates caused by having so many apps. Don't. E shy about deleting apps you don't use. They take space and waste time doing updates. I have more free than paid apps on the iPad mostly due to cost. I have deleted a couple and I even delete pay apps and give em one star if they stink. It they are decent quality but I just don't need them, I simply don't rate them.

macrumors 6502a

90% of what I've d/led has been free apps. There is some good stuff there. Most of the paid apps I've seen seem overpriced and looks like prices are already starting to fall to earth. .99 is ridiculously cheap, but $9.99 for most of the apps is stupidly expensive too.

For example, I wanted Scrabble, but $9.99 is just a turn off. The actual board game can be had for less, and more to the point the iPhone version is like $3. I'd pay $5, but $10 for a few more pixels, c'mon. It's not like EA had to pay for those pixels -- the iPad owners did. It seems developers are letting the "HD" moniker go to their head. There is a difference b/t HD media and HD games -- HD media actually costs more to produce.

Are you actually serious?! Developers have to feed their families and pay their bills like anyone else. Think about how much those same games would cost on the PSP and Dsi and realize that the price complaint IMHO is short sighted and unrealistic.

Yes, some of the iPad apps do seem "high" but let's put things into perspective. If Zenonia 2 HD suddenly came out with improved gameplay and new features for $9.99, heck yeah I would buy it in a second! We are all have different opinions on what we personally feel are reasonable prices and price gouging. I paid $14.pp for Need for Speed Shift for iPad and it's worth every penny to me but may not be to you. You know?

thread startermacrumors member

For example, I wanted Scrabble, but $9.99 is just a turn off. The actual board game can be had for less, and more to the point the iPhone version is like $3. I'd pay $5, but $10 for a few more pixels, c'mon.
Check out http://appshopper.com

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Hey Chupa,

My point exactly, why should we pay more for the same content on a new device. In theory, we are getting the same experience as iPhone/Touch users, but are paying more because the iPad has a higher resolution. If the iPad version of the app adds nothing other than a higher resolution, then it should be price the same. The developers are gaining a new audience with the iPad. Therefore they are not losing out on development costs because they are increasing their market share.

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